But the Federal Trade Commission says scammers use the name of law abiding businesses on bogus messages.

"What the scammers do is they send thousands, possibly millions of emails to people and hope to catch some that are actually experiencing a situation with a friend or relative where they're concerned about their health," says Nat Wood.

Open that fake funeral notification and viruses and spyware could get installed on your computer.

Wood says, "They could get tax information, social security numbers, credit card information, really anything you have on your computer that is valuable to them."

Scammers sent emails using a Texas funeral home. The company posted a warning on its website saying that "a fake funeral notice appearing to come from Eubank Funeral Home is not from Eubank Funeral Home."

CBS News correspondent Susan McGinnis received an email with Eubank's name on it. She did not open it.